Methods and systems for operating a material handling system

ABSTRACT

A material handling system comprising one or more sub-systems and one or more sensing panels is provided. Each sensing panel may determine whether a mode control token is within a vicinity of the respective sensing panel. When the mode control token is within the vicinity of the respective sensing panel, the sensing panel may generate a signal, and when the mode is outside of the vicinity of the respective sensing panel, the generation of the signal is halted. The material handling system may further include a processor that enables at least one of the one or more sub-systems of the material handling system in response to the generated signal and disables each of the one or more sub-systems of the material handling system in response to a halting of the generation of the signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/994,407, filed May 31, 2018, which application is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates in general to a material handling system,and more specifically, relates to methods and systems for safelyoperating a material handling system.

BACKGROUND

In warehouses and other worksites, the loading and unloading of objectssuch as cartons may require a material handling system that is able tomove cartons from one location to another. One such example of amaterial handling system may include, but is not limited to, a roboticcarton unloader. A robotic carton unloader may include one or moresub-systems such as, but not limited to, a robotic arm assembly and aconveyor system. A robotic arm assembly may be adapted to retrieve thecarton from a carton pile and place the carton on a conveyor system.Thereafter, the conveyor system may be adapted to convey the carton toanother location.

In some instances, some of the sub-systems of a material handling systemmay operate autonomously without manual intervention, and in otherinstances, some of the sub-systems of the material handling system maybe disabled or carried out manually by a human operator. In these cases,the human operator may operate in tandem with the sub-systems that areenabled in the material handling system to perform a predeterminedoperation (e.g., moving the cartons from one location to another). Giventhat autonomous systems are used in conjunction with a human operator,these systems often fail to provide adequate safety measures to preventinjury to the human operator.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with various embodiments described herein, a materialhandling system and associate method for operating a material handlingsystem are provided. With reference to the claimed system, the materialhandling system may include one or more sub-systems for facilitating amovement of materials and one or more sensing panels communicativelycoupled with one or more of the sub-systems. Each sensing panel may beconfigured to determine whether a mode control token is within avicinity of a respective sensing panel of the one or more sensingpanels. In an instance in which the mode control token is determined tobe within the vicinity of the respective sensing panel, each sensingpanel may be configured to generate a signal. In an instance in whichthe mode control token is determined to be outside of the vicinity ofthe respective sensing panel, each sensing panel may be configured tohalt generation of the signal. The material handling system may furtherinclude a processor communicatively coupled to each of the one or moresensing panels. The processor may be configured to in response toreceiving the generated signal, enable at least one of the one or moresub-systems of the material handling system, and in response to thehalting of the generated signal, disable each of the one or moresub-systems of the material handling system.

In some embodiments, the one or more sub-systems comprise a plurality oftraction devices configured to facilitate traversal of the materialhandling system, a conveyor system configured to convey one or morecartons, placed on the conveyor system, to a predetermined location,and/or a robotic arm configured to retrieve a carton from a carton pileand place the retrieved carton on the conveyor system.

In such an embodiment, enabling at least one of the one or moresub-systems of the material handling system may include operating thematerial handling system in one or more modes. The one or more modes mayinclude an automatic mode that enables a robotic arm assembly and aconveyor system, a conveyor mode that enables the conveyor system, and atraversal mode that enables a plurality of traction devices.

In some embodiments, each of the one or more sensing panels may also beconfigured to receive a beacon signal transmitted by the mode controltoken, determine a location of the mode control token, and compare thelocation of the mode control token with one or more location thresholds.Each sensing panel may further, in an instance in which the locationsatisfies the one or more location thresholds, determine that the modecontrol token is within the vicinity of at least one of the one or moresensing panels. Each sensing panel may also in an instance in which thelocation fails to satisfy the one or more location thresholds, determinethat the mode control token is outside of the vicinity of each of theone or more sensing panels.

In some further embodiments, the determined location of the mode controltoken may satisfy the one or more location thresholds in an instance inwhich the mode control token is in physical contact with at least one ofthe one or more sensing panels.

In some other embodiments, each of the one or more sensing panels may befurther configured to transmit an interrogation signal and determinewhether a response to the interrogation signal is received from the modecontrol token. Each of the sensing panels may, in an instance in whichthe response of the interrogation signal is received, determine that themode control token is within the vicinity of the respective sensingpanel. Each of the sensing panels may also, in an instance in which theresponse of the interrogation signal is not received, determine that themode control token is outside of the vicinity of the respective sensingpanel.

In some still further embodiments, each of the one or more sensingpanels may also be configured to transmit an interrogation signal,monitor a phase of a backscattered signal received from the mode controltoken, and compare the phase of the backscattered signal with the apredetermined phase threshold to determine whether the mode controltoken is within the vicinity of the respective sensing panel.

In some other embodiments, at least one of the one or more sensingpanels further includes a retention structure configured to retain themode control token in the vicinity of the at least one sensing panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description of the illustrative embodiments may be read inconjunction with the accompanying figures. It will be appreciated thatfor simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in thefigures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, thedimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to otherelements. Embodiments incorporating teachings of the present disclosureare shown and described with respect to the figures presented herein, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example material handling system, in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a control system for the materialhandling system of FIG. 1, in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a sensing panel, in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of a mode control token, in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of the mode control token, in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded view of the mode control token, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of the mode control token attached to thesensing panel, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for operating the materialhandling system, in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of another method for operating thematerial handling system, in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example material handling system operating in anautomatic mode, in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example material handling system operating in astop mode, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example material handling system operating in aconveyor mode, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 13 illustrates an example material handling system operating in atraversal mode, in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the disclosure are shown. Indeed, thesedisclosures may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Terminology used in this patent is not meant to be limiting insofar asdevices described herein, or portions thereof, may be attached orutilized in other orientations

The term “comprising” means including but not limited to, and should beinterpreted in the manner it is typically used in the patent context.Use of broader terms such as comprises, includes, and having should beunderstood to provide support for narrower terms such as consisting of,consisting essentially of, and comprised substantially of.

The phrases “in one embodiment,” “according to one embodiment,” and thelike generally mean that the particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic following the phrase may be included in at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure, and may be included in more thanone embodiment of the present disclosure (importantly, such phrases donot necessarily refer to the same embodiment).

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other implementations.

If the specification states a component or feature “may,” “can,”“could,” “should,” “would,” “preferably,” “possibly,” “typically,”“optionally,” “for example,” “often,” or “might” (or other suchlanguage) be included or have a characteristic, that particularcomponent or feature is not required to be included or to have thecharacteristic. Such component or feature may be optionally included insome embodiments, or it may be excluded.

Material handling systems include machines, systems, sub-systems, andthe like that are configured to unload cartons (e.g., objects, boxes,etc.) from a location in a worksite and transfer the unloaded cartons toanother location in the worksite. According to one or more exampleembodiments described hereafter, the material handling system of thepresent application may include one or more sub-systems such as arobotic arm assembly or a conveyor system. For example, the robotic armassembly is adapted to retrieve a carton from a carton pile and placethe retrieved carton on the conveyor system. Thereafter, the conveyorsystem transports the carton to another location.

Further, the material handling system of the present disclosure includesone or more sensing panels. Each of the one or more sensing panels isadapted to determine whether a mode control token is in a vicinity ofthe respective sensing panels. If at least one sensing panel of the oneor more sensing panels determines that the mode control token is withinits vicinity, the at least one sensing panel generates a signal.Thereafter, the at least one sensing panel transmits the generatedsignal to a processor. Upon receiving the generated signal, theprocessor may configure the material handling system to operate in apredetermined mode. These modes, for example, may be configured toenable or disable certain sub-systems of the one or more sub-systems inthe material handling system.

Further, in an instance when the mode control token is not within thevicinity of the at least one sensing panel, the at least one sensingpanel halts the generation of the signal and, accordingly, stops thetransmission of the signal to the processor. When the processor stopsreceiving the signal from any of the one or more sensing panels, theprocessor halts the operation of the material handling system. In thisway, in emergency scenarios, the system of the present disclosure allowsan operator to immediately shut down or halt the operation of thematerial handling system by removing the mode control token from thevicinity of the at least one sensing panel. Furthermore, the systems ofthe present disclosure removes the need of the operator to find anon/off switch for shutting down the material handling system.Additionally, the embodiments illustrated herein allow the materialhandling system to operate in multiple modes by simply placing the modecontrol token in the vicinity of a predetermined sensing panel.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example material handling system 100, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Thematerial handling system 100 includes one or more sub-systems (e.g.,sub-systems 102) that further include a robotic arm assembly 104, aconveyor system 106, and a plurality of traction devices 108.Additionally, the material handling system 100 includes a control system110 that is adapted to control the operation of the one or moresub-systems 102.

The robotic arm assembly 104 is movably coupled to a frame 112 of thematerial handling system 100. The robotic arm assembly 104 includes oneor more robotic arms 114 movably coupled with one another through one ormore joints 116. For example, as depicted in FIG. 1, the one or morerobotic arms 114 include a first robotic arm 114 a pivotally coupled tothe frame 112 of the material handling system 100. Further, the one ormore robotic arms 114 include a second robotic arm 114 b movably coupledto the first robotic arm 114 a, and a third robotic arm 114 c movablycoupled to the second robotic arm 114 b. Additionally, the robotic armassembly 104 includes a manipulator 118 coupled to the third robotic arm114 c. The manipulator 118 is adapted to retrieve a carton from a cartonpile 120. In an example embodiment, the manipulator 118 includes one ormore vacuum suctions (not shown) that facilitate retrieving a cartonfrom the carton pile 120. After retrieval of the carton, the one or morerobotic arms 114 place the retrieved carton on the conveyor system 106.In an example embodiment, the robotic arm assembly 104 may have apredetermined degree of freedom that is deterministic of a motion of therobotic arm assembly 104. In an example embodiment, the degree offreedom of the robotic arm assembly 104 is defined as a number ofachievable independent movements of the robotic arm assembly 104. Forexample, if the robotic arm assembly 104 has six degrees of freedom, therobotic arm assembly 104 may be adapted to have six independentmovements. Some examples of the robotic arm assembly 104 may include,but are not limited to, FANUC® Robot R-1000ia, Kuka robotic arm, ABBrobotic arm, and/or RobotWorx robotic arm.

The conveyor system 106 is adapted to transport the carton, placed bythe robotic arm assembly 104, to an end 122 of the material handlingsystem 100. The conveyor system 106 includes a plurality of fixedconveyors 124, a lift 126, and a transition belt 128. The lift 126 maybe proximal to the robotic arm assembly 104 and may be connected to theplurality of fixed conveyors 124 through the transition belt 128.Further, the lift 126 may be adapted to move in accordance with a changein position of the manipulator 118 of the robotic arm assembly 104. Forexample, the manipulator 118 of the robotic arm assembly 104 moves froma first position to a second position such that the second position isat a greater height than the first position. In such an embodiment, aheight of a lift 126 (with reference to the ground surface on which thematerial handling system 100 is positioned) is modified in accordancewith a change in position of the manipulator 118. In an exampleembodiment, a change in the position of the lift 126 is proportional toa change in position of the manipulator 118 of the robotic arm 104. Inan example embodiment, the lift 124 may be coupled to the frame 112 ofthe material handling system 100 through a telescopic arm 128 thatfacilitates modification of the position of the lift 126 according tothe position of the robotic arm assembly 104. The robotic arm assembly104 places the retrieved cartons on the lift 126. Thereafter, the lifttransports the placed carton to the plurality of fixed conveyors 124 bythe transition belt 128.

Each of the plurality of fixed conveyors 124 may include a conveyor belt(not shown) that may correspond an endless medium that moves about oneor more pulleys to transport the carton to the end 122 of the materialhandling system 100. In an example embodiment, the conveyor belt mayhave a predetermined coefficient of friction that does not allow thecarton, placed on the conveyor belt, to slip. Some examples of theconveyor belt may include, but are not limited to, a rubber conveyorbelt, a metal plate based conveyor belt, and/or the like. As shown inFIG. 1, some embodiments include a cross belt conveyor. In otherembodiments, consistent with aspects of the present disclosure, othertypes of conveyors may be used in conjunction with or as an alternativeto the cross belt conveyor.

The plurality of traction devices 108 are coupled to the frame 112 ofthe material handling system 100. Further, the plurality of tractiondevices 108 are adapted to facilitate the movement of the materialhandling system 100. In an example embodiment, the plurality of tractiondevices 108 may correspond to wheels that engage with the ground surfaceand allow movement of the material handling system 100. The plurality oftraction devices 108 are coupled to a plurality of servomotors (notshown) that provide power to the plurality of traction devices 108 toprovide movement. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the plurality of tractiondevices 108 are wheels; however, in other embodiments, the plurality oftraction devices 108 may correspond to other types of the tractiondevices such as, but not limited to, an endless track based tractiondevice.

The control system 110 may include suitable logic/circuitry that enablesthe control system 110 to control the operation of the material handlingsystem 100. The control system 110 may include a control unit 130, oneor more sensing panels 132 a, 132, and 132 c, a mode control token 134,and an operator control panel 136. The one or more sensing panels 132 a,132, and 132 c are positioned at predetermined locations on the materialhandling system 100. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sensing panel 132 bis positioned in the manipulator 118 of the robotic arm assembly 104.Further, the sensing panel 132 c and the sensing panel 132 a arepositioned below the conveyor system 106 and on the operator controlpanel 136, respectively. Further, each of the one or more sensing panels132 a, 132 b, and 132 c is communicatively coupled to the control unit130. For the purpose of the present disclosure, the one or more sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c are interchangeably referred to as thesensing panel 132.

The control unit 130 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and variousinterfaces that enable the control unit 130 to control the one or moresub-systems 102 of the material handling system 100. For example, thecontrol unit 130 may include an interface to communicate with the one ormore sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. Further, the control unit130 may include interfaces to communicate with the robotic arm assembly104, the conveyor system 106, and the plurality of traction devices 108.In an example embodiment, the control unit 130 may be adapted to receivesignals from the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c.Further, based on the received signal, the control unit 130 may beadapted to enable or disable sub-systems of the one or more sub-systems102, as is further described below with reference to FIG. 9. Based onthe received signal, for example, the control unit 130 may be adapted todisable the robotic arm assembly 104 and enable the conveyor system 106.Various permutations and combinations of enabling/disabling the one ormore sub-systems may correspond to one or more modes of operation of thematerial handling system 100.

In an example embodiment, the one or more modes may include, but are notlimited to, an automatic mode, a conveyor mode, a stop mode, and atraversal mode. In the automatic mode, the robotic arm assembly 104 andthe conveyor system 106 of the material handling system 100 are enabled,while the plurality of traction devices 108 is disabled. In the conveyormode, the robotic arm assembly 104 and the plurality of traction devices108 are disabled and only the conveyor system 106 is enabled. In thestop mode, the operation of the material handling system 100 is halted(i.e., neither of the robotic arm assembly 104, the conveyor system 106,or the plurality of traction devices 108 are enabled). In the traversalmode, the plurality of traction devices 108 are enabled while therobotic arm assembly 104 and the conveyor system 106 of the materialhandling system 100 are disabled. The operation of the control unit 130and various interfaces of the control unit 130 are described hereafterin conjunction with FIG. 2.

The sensing panel 132 includes suitable logic and/or circuitry to enablethe sensing panel 132 to determine whether a predetermined token is in avicinity of the sensing panel 132. For example, the sensing panel 132may determine whether a mode control token 134 is within its vicinity,as is further described in conjunction with FIG. 2. In an exampleembodiment, the sensing panel 132 may include an antenna thatfacilitates detection of the mode control token 134 when the modecontrol token 134 is in the vicinity of the sensing panel 132, as isdescribed hereafter in conjunction with FIG. 8. In an exampleembodiment, the vicinity of the sensing panel 132 may be defined as asignal transmission range of the antenna. The signal transmission rangemay correspond to a maximum distance at which the antenna of the sensingpanel 132 can transmit a signal. Additionally or alternately, thevicinity may be defined by a geo fenced region defined around each ofthe one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. In someembodiments, the geo fenced region may be defined in accordance to thesignal transmission range of the antenna in each of the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. In alternate embodiments, thegeo fenced region may correspond to a set of location coordinates thatdefines a virtual boundary around each of the one or more sensing panels132 a, 132 b, and 132 c, such that when the mode control token 134 iswithin a virtual boundary, the mode control token 134 is determined tobe within the vicinity of a sensing panel corresponding to the geofenced region. Hereinafter, the virtual boundary of the geo fencedregion is described with reference to a location threshold.

In an example embodiment, the operator of the material handling system100 may define the location threshold for each of the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c during initial configuration ofthe material handling system 100. In an alternative example embodiment,the geographic area covered by each geo fenced region may be differentfor each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. Forinstance, the area of the geo fenced region corresponding to the sensingpanel 132 c may greater than the area of the geo fenced regioncorresponding to sensing panels 132 a and 132 b. The sensing panel 132may be further adapted to retrieve data stored in the mode control token134, as is further described in FIG. 8. The sensing panel 132 mayutilize one or more protocols such as, but are not limited to, RadioFrequency Identification (RFID), Zigbee, Bluetooth™, Infra-Red (IR)based communication, Near Field Communication (NFC), and/or the like toretrieve data from the mode control token 134. In an example embodiment,the sensing panel 132 may be adapted to generate the signal based on thedata retrieved from the mode control token 134, as is further describedin FIG. 8. The sensing panel 132 may be further adapted to transmit thegenerated signal to the control unit 130. The structure of the sensingpanel 132 is described hereafter in conjunction with FIG. 3. Further,the operation performed by the sensing panel 132 is described hereafterin conjunction with FIG. 8.

As described above, in some embodiments, various elements or componentsof the circuitry of the sensing panel 132 may be housed within thecontrol unit 130 or vice versa. It will be understood in this regardthat some of the components described in connection with the sensingpanel 132 and/or control unit 130 may be housed in whole or in partwithin various devices illustrated in FIG. 1, or by yet another devicenot expressly illustrated in FIG. 1.

The mode control token 134 may include suitable logic and/or circuitrythat enables the mode control token 134 to store data/information.Further, the mode control token 134 may include an antenna thatfacilitates communication with the sensing panel 132 (e.g., when themode control token 134 is in the vicinity of the sensing panel 132, asdescribed hereafter in conjunction with FIG. 8). For example, the modecontrol token 134 may communicate data (e.g., stored by the mode controltoken 134) with the sensing panel 132. Some examples of the mode controltoken 134 include, but are not limited to, an RFID tag, a NFC tag, aBluetooth tag, and/or the like. The structure of the mode control token134 is described hereafter in conjunction with FIGS. 4-6.

The operator control panel 136 corresponds to a panel that enables anoperator 138 of the material handling system 100 to operate/control theoperation of the one or more sub-systems 102 of the material handlingsystem 100. For example, the operator control panel 136 may be utilizedto control the robotic arm assembly 104. The operator control panel 136may include one or more input devices (not shown) that may be used bythe operator 138 of the material handling system 100 to operate the oneor more sub-systems 102.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the control unit 130. As shown,the control unit 130 includes a processor 202, a memory device 204, atransceiver 206, a sensor unit 208, a mode control unit 210, a roboticarm interface unit 212, a conveyor interface unit 214, and a tractiondevice interface unit 216.

The processor 202 may be embodied as one or more microprocessors withaccompanying digital signal processor(s), one or more processor(s)without an accompanying digital signal processor, one or morecoprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or morecontrollers, processing circuitry, one or more computers, various otherprocessing elements including integrated circuits such as, for example,an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or field programmablegate array (FPGA), or some combination thereof.

Accordingly, although illustrated in FIG. 2 as a single processor, in anexample embodiment, the processor 202 may include a plurality ofprocessors and signal processing modules. The plurality of processorsmay be embodied on a single electronic device or may be distributedacross a plurality of electronic devices collectively configured tofunction as the circuitry of the control unit 130. The plurality ofprocessors may be in operative communication with each other and may becollectively configured to perform one or more functionalities of thecircuitry of the control unit 130, as described herein. In an exampleembodiment, the processor 202 may be configured to execute instructionsstored in the memory device 204 or otherwise accessible to the processor202. These instructions, when executed by the processor 202, may causethe circuitry of the control unit 130 to perform one or more of thefunctionalities, as described herein.

Whether configured by hardware, firmware/software methods, or by acombination thereof, the processor 202 may include an entity capable ofperforming operations according to embodiments of the present disclosurewhile configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor 202is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA, or the like, the processor 202 may includespecifically configured hardware for conducting one or more operationsdescribed herein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor202 is embodied as an executor of instructions, such as may be stored inthe memory device 204, the instructions may specifically configure theprocessor 202 to perform one or more algorithms and operations describedherein.

Thus, the processor 202 used herein may refer to a programmablemicroprocessor, microcomputer, or multiple processor chip(s) that can beconfigured by software instructions (e.g., applications) to perform avariety of functions, including the functions of the various embodimentsdescribed above. In some devices, multiple processors may be provideddedicated to wireless communication functions and one processordedicated to running other applications. Software applications may bestored in the internal memory before they are accessed and loaded intothe processors. The processors may include internal memory sufficient tostore the application software instructions. In many devices, theinternal memory may be a volatile or nonvolatile memory, such as flashmemory, or a mixture of both. The memory can also be located internal toanother computing resource (e.g., enabling computer readableinstructions to be downloaded over the Internet or another wired orwireless connection).

The memory device 204 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and/orinterfaces that are adapted to store a set of instructions that isexecutable by the processor 202 to perform predetermined operations.Some of the commonly known memory implementations include, but are notlimited to, hard disk, random access memory, cache memory, read onlymemory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) &electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM),digital versatile disc read only memory (DVD-ROM), optical disc,circuitry configured to store information, or some combination thereof.In an example embodiment, the memory device 204 may be integrated withthe processor 202 on a single chip, without departing from the scope ofthe disclosure.

The transceiver 206 may correspond to a communication interface thatfacilitates transmission and reception messages and data to/from variouscomponents of the material handling system 100. Examples of thetransceiver 206 may include, but are not limited to, an antenna, anEthernet port, a USB port, a serial port, or any other port that can beadapted to receive and transmit data. The transceiver 206 transmits andreceives data/messages in accordance with the various communicationprotocols, such as, I2C, TCP/IP, UDP, and 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5Gcommunication protocols.

The sensor unit 208 may include suitable logic/circuitry that enablesthe sensor unit 208 to communicate with the one or more sensing panels132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. In an example embodiment, the sensor unit 208may be adapted to communicate with the one or more sensing panels 132 a,132 b, and 132 c through the transceiver 206. For example, the sensorunit 208 may be adapted to receive the signal from the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. The sensor unit 208 may befurther adapted to transmit a signal reception state of each of the oneor more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit210, as is further described in conjunction with FIGS. 9-13. In anexample embodiment, the signal reception state may be indicative ofwhether the sensor unit 128 is receiving the signal from the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. The details pertaining to thesignal reception state are hereafter described in conjunction with FIGS.9-13. The sensor unit 208 may be implemented using one or moretechnologies such as, but not limited to, FPGA, ASIC, and the like.

The mode control unit 210 may include suitable logic/circuitry thatenables the mode control unit 210 to determine a mode of the one or moremodes in which to operate the material handling system 100. In anexample embodiment, the mode control unit 210 may be adapted to receivethe signal reception state from the sensing unit 208. Based on thesignal reception state, the mode control unit 210 is adapted todetermine the mode of the one or more modes, as is further described inconjunction with FIGS. 9-13. Further, based on the determined mode, themode control unit 210 may be adapted to send an instruction of the oneor more sub-systems 102 of the material handling system 100. In anexample embodiment, the instruction may correspond to enabling/disablingthe one or more sub-systems 102 of the material handling system 100. Forexample, the mode control unit 210 may be configured to send theinstruction to enable/disable one or more of the robotic arm interfaceunit 212, the conveyor interface unit 214, and the traction deviceinterface unit 216, as is further described in conjunction with FIGS.9-13. The mode control unit 210 may be implemented using one or moretechnologies such as, but not limited to, FPGA, ASIC, and the like.

The robotic arm interface unit 212 may include suitable logic/circuitrythat enables the robotic arm interface unit 212 to control the operationof the robotic arm assembly 104. For example, the robotic arm interfaceunit 212 may be adapted to enable/disable the robotic arm assembly 104.Further, the robotic arm interface unit 212 may operate the robotic armassembly 104 according to pre-stored instructions that allows therobotic arm assembly 102 to retrieve the carton from the carton pile 120and place the retrieved carton on the conveyor system 106. In an exampleembodiment, the pre-stored instructions may define a path traversable bythe robotic arm assembly 104 in order to perform the aforementionedoperation. The robotic arm interface unit 212 may be implemented usingone or more technologies such as, but not limited to, FPGA, ASIC, andthe like.

The conveyor interface unit 214 may include suitable logic/circuitrythat enables the conveyor interface unit 214 to operate the conveyorsystem 106. For example, the conveyor interface unit 214 may be adaptedto enable/disable the conveyor system 106. Further, the conveyorinterface unit 214 may be adapted to operate the conveyor system 106according to the mode of the one or more modes determined by the modecontrol unit 210. The operation of the conveyor interface unit 214according to the one or more modes has been described hereafter withreference to FIG. 9-13. The conveyor interface unit 214 may beimplemented using one or more technologies such as, but not limited to,FPGA, ASIC, and the like.

The traction device interface unit 216 may include suitablelogic/circuitry that enables the traction device interface unit 216 tocontrol the operation of the plurality of traction devices 108. Forexample, the traction device interface unit 216 may be adapted toenable/disable the plurality of traction devices 108. Further, thetraction device interface unit 216 may be adapted to control theservomotors coupled to the plurality of traction devices 108 in order tomove the material handling system 100. The traction device interfaceunit 216 may be implemented using one or more technologies such as, butnot limited to, FPGA, ASIC, and the like.

In an example embodiment, the processor 202 may be adapted to controland monitor the operation of the memory device 204, the transceiver 206,the sensor unit 208, the mode control unit 210, the robotic arminterface unit 212, the conveyor interface unit 214, and the tractiondevice interface unit 216. For example, in operation, the processor 202may be adapted to transmit an instruction to the sensor unit 208 tocheck if the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity of one of theone or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c.

Upon receiving the instruction from the processor 202, the sensor unit208 causes each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132c to transmit an interrogation signal. In an example embodiment, theinterrogation signal may correspond to a signal that may be utilized todetermine whether the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity ofthe respective sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. If the modecontrol token 134 is within the vicinity of a sensing panel of the oneor more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c, the mode control token134 may be adapted to respond to the interrogation signal. Therefore,the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c may determinewhether the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity by checking ifthe response to the interrogation signal is received.

In an alternate embodiment, the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b,and 132 c may determine whether the mode control token 134 is within thevicinity by monitoring a phase of a back scattered signal received fromthe mode control token 134. In an example embodiment, the back-scatteredsignal may correspond to a reflection of the interrogation signaltransmitted by the sensing panel 132. When the mode control token 134 iswithin the vicinity of the sensing panel 132, the mode control token 134may receive the interrogation signal from the sensing panel 132. Usuallya portion of the received interrogation signal reflects from the modecontrol token 134. Such reflected interrogation signal is referred to asthe back scattered signal. In an example embodiment, the sensing panel132 may compare the phase of the back scattered signal with apredetermined phase threshold to determine whether the mode controltoken 134 is within the vicinity of the sensing panel 132. In an exampleembodiment, the predetermined phase threshold may correspond to a valueof the phase of the backscattered signal such that if the phase of thereceived back scattered signal is more than the predetermined phasethreshold, the sensing panel 132 may determine that the mode controltoken 134 is within its vicinity. However, if the sensing panel 132determines that the phase of the received backscattered signal is lessthan the predetermined phase threshold, the sensing panel 132 maydetermine that the mode control token 134 is not within its vicinity(e.g., outside of its vicinity).

In an alternate embodiment, the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b,and 132 c may be configured to receive a beacon signal from the modecontrol token 134. In such an embodiment, each of the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c may be configured to determine alocation of the mode control token 134 based on analysis a signalstrength of the beacon signal received from the mode control token 134.In an example embodiment, the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b,and 132 c may employ triangulation techniques to determine the locationof the mode control token 134 based upon the signal strength of thebeacon signal received from the mode control token 134. Thereafter, eachof the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c may beconfigured to compare the determined location of the mode control token134 with respective location thresholds to determine whether the modecontrol token 134 is within a respective vicinity. As described above,the location threshold corresponds to the set of location coordinatesthat define the geo fence boundary around each of the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. In an example embodiment, if asensing panel of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 cdetermines that the determined location of the mode control token 134 iswithin the location threshold associated with the sensing panel (e.g.,the sensing panel 132 a), the sensing panel 132 a may determine that themode control token 134 is within the vicinity. However, if each of theone or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c determines that thelocation of the mode control token 134 is not within the respectivelocation threshold, then each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a,132 b, and 132 c determines that the mode control token 134 is outsideof their respective vicinities.

On determining that the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity ofthe sensing panel 132 a, the sensing panel 132 a initiates aninterrogation sequence with the mode control token 134 to retrieve theinformation stored in the mode control token 134. In an exampleembodiment, the information may include a unique ID that identifies themode control token 134. In some embodiments, the unique ID may beassociated with the operator of the material handling system 100. Thesensing panel 132 a may be adapted to transmit the information retrievedfrom the mode control token 134 to the sensor unit 208. The sensor unit208 may be adapted to authenticate the mode control token 134 based onthe unique ID retrieved from the mode control token 134. In an exampleembodiment, the sensor unit 208 may be adapted to compare the unique IDwith a set of predetermined IDs (e.g., stored in the memory device 204)to authenticate the mode control token 134. In an example embodiment,the set of predetermined IDs may correspond to a list of IDs of modecontrol tokens that are authorized to be used with the material handlingsystem 100. If the sensor unit 208 determines that the unique ID of themode control token 134 is present in the set of predetermined IDs, thesensor unit 208 may determine that the mode control token 134 isauthorized to operate with the material handling system 100. If thesensor unit 208 determines that the unique ID of the mode control token134 is not present in the set of predetermined IDs, however, the sensorunit 208 may disregard the mode control token 134 may not perform anyfurther steps of the method described herein.

In some embodiments in which the unique ID (retrieved from the modecontrol token 134) identifies the operator of the material handlingsystem 100, the sensor unit 208 may be configured to compare the uniqueID with the set of predetermined IDs, which corresponds to the IDs ofthe operators that are authorized to operate the material handlingsystem 100. If the sensor unit 208 determines that the unique ID of theoperator is present in the set of predetermined IDs, the sensor unit 208may determine that the operator associated with the unique ID (retrievedfrom the mode control token 134) is authorized to operate the materialhandling system 100. However, if the sensor unit 208 determines that theunique ID of the operator (retrieved from the mode control token 134) isnot present in the set of predetermined IDs, the sensor unit 208 maydetermine that the operator associated with unique ID is not authorizedto operate with the material handling system 100. Therefore, the sensorunit 208 may not perform any further steps.

In some embodiments, the information stored in the mode control token134 may include a first unique ID and a second unique ID. In an exampleembodiment, the first unique ID may identify the mode control token 134and the second unique ID may identify the operator associated with themode control token 134. Further, in such an embodiment, the sensor unit208 may be configured to compare the first unique ID and the secondunique ID with a set of first predetermined IDs and a set of secondpredetermined IDs, respectively. In an example embodiment, the set offirst predetermined IDs corresponds to the list of IDs of the modecontrol tokens that are authorized to operate with the material handlingsystem 100. Further, the set of second predetermined IDs corresponds tothe list of IDs of the operators that are authorized to operate thematerial handling system 100. For authorization purpose, the sensor unit208 may be configured to determine whether the first unique ID ispresent in the set of first predetermined IDs and whether the secondunique ID is present in the set of second predetermined IDs, based onthe comparison. Thereafter, the sensor unit 208 authorizes the modecontrol token 208 in an instance when the first unique ID is present inthe set of first predetermined IDs and the second unique ID is presentin the set of second predetermined IDs.

Such authentication of the mode control token 134 and/or the operatorallows only specific mode control tokens and/or operator to operate thematerial handling system 100, and thus minimizes the misuse of thematerial handling system 100. In some embodiments, the sensing panel 132a may be adapted to authenticate the mode control token 134. In suchembodiment, the sensor unit 208 may be implemented in the sensing panel132 a without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

In response to the successful authentication of the mode control token134, the sensing panel 132 a may generate and transmit the signal to thesensor unit 208. The sensor unit 208 may be adapted to monitor thesignal reception state for each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a,132 b, and 132 c. In an example embodiment, the signal reception stateis indicative of whether the signal is received from the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. In an example embodiment, thesignal reception state for each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a,132 b, and 132 c may have two states (i.e., “no signal” and “signalreceived”). Further, when the sensor unit 208 receives the signal fromone of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c, thesensor unit 208 may be adapted to identify a sensing panel of the one ormore sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c from which the signal isreceived. In an example embodiment, the sensor unit 208 may be adaptedto monitor the ports on which the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132b, and 132 c are communicatively coupled. Each of the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c are coupled to the independentports. Therefore, when the signal is received by the sensor unit 208,the sensor unit 208 is adapted to determine to which port the signal isreceived. Thereafter, the sensor unit 208 is adapted to correlate thedetermined port with a sensing panel of the one or more sensing panels132 a 132 b, and 132 c to identify which sensing panel has transmittedthe signal. Accordingly, the sensor unit 208 may be adapted to modifythe signal reception state for the identified sensing panel. Forexample, in such an embodiment, when the sensing panel 132 a transmitsthe signal to the sensor unit 208, the signal reception state for thesensing panel 132 a changes from “no signal” to “signal received”. In anevent of state change, the sensor unit 208 may be adapted to transmit aninformation pertaining to the signal reception state for each of the oneor more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit210.

The mode control unit 210, on receiving the signal reception state, isadapted to identify the mode of the one or more modes in which thematerial handling system 100 is to be operated, based on the receivedsignal reception state associated with each of the one or more sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. In an example embodiment, the modecontrol unit 210 may utilize a look-up table to determine the mode ofthe one or more modes. Table 1 illustrates an example look-up table thatthe mode control unit 210 may utilize to determine the mode of operationof the material handling system 100.

TABLE 1 Look-up table illustrating the one or more modes andcorresponding signal reception states associated with each of the one ormore sensing panels 132a, 132b, and 132c. Signal reception Signalreception Signal reception state of state of the state of the sensingpanel sensing panel sensing panel 132a 132b 132c Mode signal received nosignal no signal Automatic mode no signal signal received no signalConveyor mode no signal no signal signal received Traversal mode nosignal no signal no signal Stop mode

For example, the mode control unit 210 determines that the signalreception state of the sensing panel 132 a is “signal received”, andhence the mode control unit 210 determines that the mode as theautomatic mode. Similarly, if the mode control unit 208 determines thatthe signal reception state of the sensing panel 132 b is “signalreceived”, the mode control unit 210 may be adapted to determine themode as the conveyor mode. Further, if the mode control unit 208determines that the signal reception state of the sensing panel 132 c is“signal received”, the mode control unit 210 may be adapted to determinethe mode as the traversal mode. Still further, if the mode control token210 determines that the signal reception state associated with each ofthe one or more sensing panel 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c is “no signal”,the mode control unit 210 may be configured to determine the mode ofoperation of the material handling system 100 as the “stop mode”.

After determining the mode of operation of the material handling system100, the mode control unit 210 may cause enabling/disabling of the oneor more sub-systems 102 of the material handling system 100. Forexample, the mode control unit 210 may cause enabling/disabling of oneor more of the robotic arm interface unit 212, the conveyor interfaceunit 214, and the traction device interface unit 216 based on thedetermined mode of operation of the material handling system 100. In anexample embodiment, the mode control unit 210 may utilize anotherlook-up table to determine which subsystem of the one or moresub-systems 102 is to be enabled or disabled based on the determinedmode.

TABLE 2 Look-up table illustrating the one or more modes andenabling/disabling of the one or more sub-systems 102. Robotic armConveyor Plurality of traction Mode assembly 104 system 106 devices 108Automatic mode Enabled Enabled Disabled Conveyor mode Disabled EnabledDisabled Traversal mode Disabled Disabled Enabled Stop mode DisabledDisabled Disabled

For example, if the mode control unit 210 determines that the materialhandling system 100 is to be operated in the automatic mode, the modecontrol unit 210 may be adapted to transmit instructions to the roboticarm interface unit 212, and the conveyor interface unit 214 to enablethe robotic arm assembly 104 and the conveyor system 106. Further, themode control unit 210 is adapted to transmit instructions to thetraction device interface unit 216 to disable the plurality of tractiondevices 108. Similarly, if the mode control unit 210 determines that thematerial handling system 100 is to be operated in the conveyor mode, themode control unit 210 may be adapted to transmit the instruction to theconveyor interface unit 214 to enable the conveyor system 106. Further,the mode control token 210 is adapted to transmit the instructions tothe traction device interface unit 216 and the robotic arm interfaceunit 212 to disable the plurality of traction devices 108 and therobotic arm assembly 104, respectively. While description herein isprovided to only the modes of operation of the material handling system100 listed in Table 2, the present disclosure contemplates that anynumber of modes utilizing various sensing panels may also be used.

The enabling/disabling of the robotic arm assembly 104, the conveyorsystem 106, and the plurality of traction devices 108 is performed usinga switching element (not shown). The switching element may be adapted toreceive an instruction from a respective interface unit (e.g., therobotic arm interface unit 212, the conveyor interface unit 214, and thetraction device interface unit 216) and, based on the instruction, theswitching element may enable/disable the one or more of the robotic armassembly 104, the conveyor system 106, and the plurality of tractiondevices 108. For example, the switching element may be adapted toenable/disable the robotic arm assembly 104 based on the instructionreceived from the robotic arm interface unit 212. Some examples of theswitching element may include, but are not limited to, a relay, a drivercircuit, a dual channel circuit breaker, and/or the like.

In another example embodiment, the sensing panel 132 a, the sensingpanel 132 b, and the sensing panel 132 c may transmit the signaldirectly to the switching element. In such an embodiment, the switchingelement is programmed in such a manner that when the switching elementreceives the signal from the sensing panel 132 a, the switching elementenables the robotic arm assembly 104, and the conveyor system 106.Therefore, the material handling system 100 operates in the automaticmode. Similarly, when the switching element receives the signal from thesensing panel 132 b, the switching element enables the conveyor system106 and disables the robotic arm assembly 104 and the plurality oftraction devices 108. Therefore, the material handling system 100operates in the conveyor mode.

In some example embodiments, the mode control unit 210 continues tooperate the material handling system 100 in one of the one or more modesonly while the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity of one ofthe one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. For example, themode control unit 210 continues to operate the material handling system100 in the automatic mode while the mode control token 134 is vicinityof the sensing panel 132 a. The sensing panel 132 a is adapted to,periodically, determine whether the mode control token 134 continues tobe within the vicinity by periodically transmitting the interrogationsignal to the mode control token 134. If the sensing panel 132 a failsto receive a response to the interrogation signal, the sensing panel 132a determines that the mode control token 134 is not within the vicinity.Additionally or alternately, the sensing panel 132 a may analyze a phaseof the backscattered signal received from the mode control token 134 todetermine whether the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity ofthe sensing panel 132 a.

On detecting that the mode control token 134 is not within the vicinityof the sensing panel 132 a, the sensing panel 132 a may be adapted tostop the transmission of the signal to the sensor unit 208. The sensorunit 208, accordingly, modifies the signal reception state for thesensing panel 132 a to “no signal”. Further, the sensor unit 208 may beadapted to transmit the signal reception state for each of the one ormore sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit210, in an event of change in the signal reception state of at least oneof the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c.

The mode control unit 210, on receiving the updated signal receptionstate associated with each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132b, and 132 c, is adapted to modify the mode of operation of the materialhandling system 100. For example, the mode control unit 210 receives “nosignal” signal reception state for each of the one or more sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c, from the sensing unit 208, the modecontrol unit 210 determines the mode (of operating the material handlingsystem 100) as the stop mode. Accordingly, the mode control panel 210may be adapted to transmit the one or more instructions to the roboticarm interface unit 212, the conveyor interface unit 214, and thetraction device interface unit 216 to disable the robotic arm assembly104, the conveyor system 106, and the plurality of traction devices 108,respectively. Therefore, the operation of the material handling system100 is halted.

Such a mode (i.e., a stop mode) enables the operator to immediately haltthe operation of the material handling system 100 (i.e., in case ofemergency scenarios). For example, the robotic arm assembly 104 maymalfunction such that a mishandling of the article 102 occurs.Therefore, in such a scenario, the operator may want to halt theoperation of the material handling system 100. Further, to halt theoperation of the material handling system 100, the operator may removethe mode control token 134 from the vicinity of the sensing panel 132 a,132 b, or 132 c.

Various modes of the operation of the material handling system 100 havebeen described hereafter in conjunction with various example methodsillustrated in FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and 13.

In some embodiments, the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and132 c may be adapted to generate the signal when the mode control token134 is not within the vicinity of the respective sensing panel. Further,the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c may be adapted tohalt the generation of the signal when the mode control token 134 iswithin the vicinity of the respective sensing panels. In such ascenario, to operate the material handling system 100 in the automaticmode, the mode control token 134 is placed within the vicinity of thesensing panel 132 a. Placing the mode control token 134 within thevicinity of the sensing panel 132 a causes the sensing panel 132 a tohalt the generation of the signal, while the sensing panels 132 b and132 c continue generation of the signal. This change in the signalreception state of the signal by the sensing panel 132 a is detected bythe sensor unit 208. Further, the sensor unit 208 transmits the signalreception state to the mode control unit 210. The mode control unit 210may utilize the following look-up table (in the current scenario) todetermine the mode of the one or modes in which the material handlingsystem 100 is to be operated.

TABLE 3 Look up table for the scenario, where the sensing panels 132 donot generate the signal when the mode control token 134 is within thevicinity. Signal reception Signal reception Signal reception state ofsensing state of sensing state of sensing panel 132a panel 132b panel132c Mode no signal signal received signal received Automatic modesignal received no signal signal received Conveyor mode signal receivedsignal received no signal Traversal mode signal received signal receivedsignal received Stop mode

Thereafter, the mode control unit 210 may be adapted to operate in asimilar manner as described above.

In some example scenarios, the scope of the disclosure is not limited tooperating the material handling system 100 in the stop mode only when nosignal is received from each of the sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132c. In alternate embodiment, the control unit 210 may be configured tooperate the material handling system 100 in the stop mode when thesignal is received from two or more sensing panels, simultaneously. Forexample, the operator 138 may bring the mode control token 134 invicinity of the sensing panel 132 a causing the sensing panel 132 a togenerate the signal. Concurrently or simultaneously, another operatorbrings another mode control token 134 in vicinity of the sensing panel132 b causing the sensing panel 132 b to generate the signal.Accordingly, the control unit 210 receives signal from both the firstsensing panel 132 a and the second sensing panel 132 b. In suchscenario, the control unit 210 may operate the material handling system100 in the stop mode. Therefore, the control unit 210 disables each ofthe conveyor system 106, the plurality traction devices 108, and therobotic arm assembly 104. Such operation of the control unit 210prevents accidental situations, when multiple operators try to operatethe material handling system 100 simultaneously.

A person having ordinary skills in the art would further appreciate thatthe scope of the disclosure is not limited to having multiple sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. In an example embodiment, the controlsystem 110 may include single sensing panel 132 and multiple modecontrol tokens 134. In an example embodiment, each mode control token134 may have the information pertaining to a mode of the one or moremodes. For example, in such a scenario, a mode control token of themultiple mode control tokens 134 may include information indicative ofthe automatic mode of operation of the material handling system 100.Similarly, the multiple mode control tokens 134 may include a modecontrol token that includes information indicative of the conveyor modeof operation of the material handling system 100.

When the mode control token 134 (adapted for the automatic mode) isbrought within the vicinity of the sensing panel 132, a first signal isgenerated. In an example embodiment, the first signal is indicative ofthe automatic mode operation of the material handling system 100. Whenthe sensor unit 208 receive the first signal, the sensor unit 208 maytransmit the information pertaining to the signal reception state to themode control unit 210. In an example embodiment, the signal receptionstate in such scenario would be “First signal”. The mode control unit210, on receiving the signal reception state as the “First signal”, mayoperate the material handling system 100 in the automatic mode.Similarly, when the mode control token 134 (adapted for the conveyormode) is brought within the vicinity of the sensing panel 132, a secondsignal indicative of the conveyor mode is generated. Further, when nomode control token 134 is within the vicinity of the sensing panel 132,the sensing panel 132 does not generate a signal. When the sensor unit208 detects that no signal is received from the sensing panel 132, thesensor unit 208 transmits the signal reception state as “no signal” tothe mode control unit 210. Accordingly, the mode control unit 210 may beadapted to operate the material handling system 100 in the stop mode.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the sensing panel 132,according to one or more embodiments. The structure of the sensing panel132 has been described in conjunction with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Thesensing panel 132 includes a bracket 302, and a Radio Frequency (RF)reader 304. The bracket 302 and the RF reader 304 are coupled to ahousing 306 of the material handling system 100. In an exampleembodiment, the structure of the sensing panel 132 described herein isapplicable on the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c.

The bracket 302 corresponds to a U-shaped bracket that includes a firstplate 308, a second plate 310, and a third plate 312. The second plate310 is parallel to the first plate 308 and the third plate 312. Further,the first plate 308 and the third plate 312 are in a same plane. In anexample embodiment, the bracket 302 further includes a first extension314 and a second extension 316. The first extension 314 couples thefirst plate 308 with the second plate 310. Further, the second extension316 couples the third plate 312 with the second plate 310. The firstextension 314 is perpendicular to the first plate 308 and the secondplate 310. Similarly, the second extension 316 is perpendicular to thethird plate 312 and the second plate 310.

In an example embodiment, the first plate 308 and the third plate 312include one or more through holes 318. The one or more through holes 318are adapted to receive one or more bolts 320 that are adapted to attachthe bracket 302 to the housing 306. In an example embodiment, when thefirst plate 308 and the third plate 312 are attached to the housing 306,a space 321 is defined between a surface of the housing 306 and thesecond plate 310. The second plate 310 includes a through hole 322. Inan example embodiment, the first plate 308, the second plate 310, andthe third plate 312 are formed of a ferromagnetic material such as, butnot limited to, iron, nickel, and cobalt. In an example embodiment, thebracket 302 corresponds to the retention structure of the sensing panel132. In an example embodiment, the bracket 302 enables the retention ofthe mode control token 134.

The RF reader 304 is attached to the housing 306 of the materialhandling system 100 in such a manner that a portion 324 of the RF reader304 extends in the space 321 (defined between the housing 306 and thesecond plate 310 of the bracket 302). The portion 324 of the RF reader304 is so positioned in the space 321 such that an axis 326, passingthrough the RF reader 304, is perpendicular to the plane of the secondplate 310. Further, the axis 326 passes through a center of the throughhole 322.

In an example embodiment, the RF reader 304 is adapted to detect themode control token 134 and, accordingly, retrieve data from the modecontrol token 134. The RF reader 304 may employ one or more protocolssuch as, but are not limited to, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID),Zigbee, Bluetooth™, Infra-Red (IR) based communication, Near FieldCommunication (NFC), and/or the like to retrieve data from the modecontrol token 134. Further, the RF reader 304 is adapted to generate thesignal based on the retrieved data. Furthermore, the RF reader 304 isadapted to transmit the signal to the sensor unit 208. For the purposeof ongoing description, RF reader 304 is considered to be an RFIDreader, however, other types of RF reader 304 (such as NFC tag reader,Zigbee based reader, etc.) may equally be contemplated.

The structure of the mode control token 134 will described inconjunction with FIGS. 4-6, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, a front view 400, a side view 500, andan exploded view 600 of the mode control token 134 are illustrated,respectively. The mode control token 134 includes a housing 402 thatincludes a front panel 404, a back panel 502, and an insert 504.

The front panel 404 has a first end 406 and a second end 408. Further,the front panel 404 has an outer surface 410 and an inner surface 506.As the inner surface 506 extends between the first end 406 and thesecond end 408 of the front panel 404, the inner surface 506 defines astep 508 thereby dividing the front panel 404 into a first portion 510and a second portion 512. In an example embodiment, the first portion510 extends between the first end 406 of the front panel 404 and thestep 508. The second portion 512 extends between the step 508 and thesecond end 408 of the front panel 404. In an example embodiment, a widthof the first portion 510 is greater than a width of the second portion512.

The outer surface 410 of the front panel 404 defines a cavity 602 in thefirst portion 510 of the front panel 404. The cavity 602 extends fromthe outer surface 410 of the front panel 404 to the inner surface 506 ofthe front panel 404. Further, the cavity 602 is adapted to receive a tag414. In an example embodiment, the tag 414 includes the information thatis read by the RF reader 304, when the mode control token 134 is withinthe vicinity of the RF reader 304.

The inner surface 506 of the front panel 404 defines a recess 604 in thesecond portion 512 of the front panel 404. The recess 604 is adapted toreceive a magnet 606. Additionally, at the second end 408 of the frontpanel 404 a slot 416 is defined.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the back panel 502 of the housing 402includes an outer surface 514 and an inner surface 516. The innersurface 516 of the back panel 502 defines a first portion 518, a flangeportion 520, a groove portion 522, and a second portion 524. The backpanel 502 further includes a first end 526 and a second end 528. In anexample embodiment, the first portion 518 of the back panel 502 extendsfrom the first end 526 to the flange portion 520. The flange portion 520extends between the first portion 518 of the back panel 502 and thegroove portion 522. The groove portion 522 extends between the flangeportion 520 and the second portion 524 of the back panel 502. The secondportion 524 of the back panel 502 extends between the groove portion 522and the second end 528 of the back panel 502. Further, in the secondportion of the back panel 502 defines a slot 608 at the second end 528of the back panel 502. In an example embodiment, the width of the firstportion 518 of the back panel 502 is less than a width of the flangeportion 520 and the second portion 524 of the back panel 502. In anexample embodiment, the width of the first portion 518 is substantiallythe same as the width of the groove portion 522. Further, the width ofthe flange portion 520 is greater than the width of the second portion524 of the back panel 502.

The insert 504 is a substantially U-shaped insert that defines a pair ofarms 610 and 612 that extends from a base 614. Further, the insertincludes a first end 530 and a second end 532. The base 614 extendsbetween the second end 532 and the pair of arms 610 and 612. Further,the pair of arms 610 and 612 extends between the base 614 and the firstend 530. In an example embodiment, each of the pair of arms 610 and 612includes a first portion 616 and a second portion 618. The first portion616 of the pair of arms 610 and 610 extends between the second portion618 of the pair of arms 610 and 612 and the base 614 of the insert 504.Further, the second portion 618 of the pair of arms 610 and 612 extendsbetween the first portion 614 of the pair of arms 610 and 612 and thefirst end 530. Further, a width of the second portion 616 of the pair ofarms 610 and 612 is greater than a width of the first portion 614 of thepair of arms 610 and 612.

The second portion 616 of the pair of arms 610 and 612 is adapted to bereceived in the groove portion 522 of the back panel 502. Further, theflange portion 520 of the back panel 502 is adapted to abut the step 508of the front panel 404 such that the slot 416 (defined at the second end408 of the front panel 404) and the slot 608 (defined at the second end528 of the back panel 502) aligns with each other. Additionally, thebase 614 of the insert 504 also aligns with the slot 608 and the slot416 such that a channel 620 is defined by the slot 608, the slot 416 andthe base 614 of the insert 504. The channel 620 is adapted to receive astrap 418.

The magnet 606 in the mode control token 134 facilitates retention ofthe mode control token 134 on the bracket 302. Further, the mode controltoken 134 is retained on the bracket 302 such that the tag 414 alignswith the RF reader 304 in the sensing panel 132. A person havingordinary skills in the art would appreciate that the scope of thedisclosure is not limited to having the magnet 606 placed in the housing402 of the mode control token 134. In an example embodiment, the tag 414may itself correspond to a magnetically mode control token (i.e., thetag 414 may have magnetic properties that enables the mode control token134 to be removably attached to the sensing panel 132). In an exampleembodiment, the magnet 606 allows the mode control token 134 to beattached to the bracket 302 of the sensing panel 132.

In an example embodiment, when the mode control token 134 is not in use,(i.e., the mode control token 134 is not attached to any of the one ormore sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c) the mode control token 134may be placed on a holder (not shown) on the material handling system100.

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view 700 of the mode control token 134attached to the sensing panel 132, in accordance with one or moreembodiments. FIG. 7 is described in conjunction with FIG. 3 through FIG.6.

From FIG. 7, it can be observed that the mode control token 134 isretained on the bracket 302 by means of the magnet 606. In an exampleembodiment, the mode control token 134 is retained on the bracket 302such that the tag 414 aligns with the through hole 322, thereby exposingthe tag to the space 321. Further, it can be observed from FIG. 7 thatthe through hole 322 is aligned with the RF reader 304 and the tag 414of the mode control token 134 (retained on the bracket 302) aligns withthe through hole 322, therefore, the tag 414 of the mode control token134 aligns with the RF reader 304.

As the tag 414 of the mode control token 134 aligns with the RF reader304, the RF reader 304 is able to read to the contents of the tag 414.Further, so long as the mode control token 134 is attached to thebracket 502, the RF reader 304 is able to read the tag 414. As soon asthe tag 414 misaligns with the RF reader 304 (e.g., when the modecontrol token 134 is detached from the bracket 402), the RF reader 304is unable to read the tag 414. Accordingly, the RF reader 304 halts thegeneration of the signal.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate example flowcharts and example methods of theoperations performed by an system, such as the material handling system100 having control unit 130 of FIG. 1 in accordance with exampleembodiments of the present disclosure. It will be understood that eachblock of the flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the flowcharts,may be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware, one ormore processors, circuitry and/or other devices associated withexecution of software including one or more computer programinstructions. For example, one or more of the procedures described abovemay be embodied by computer program instructions. In this regard, thecomputer program instructions which embody the procedures describedabove may be stored by a memory of an apparatus employing an embodimentof the present invention and executed by a processor in the apparatus.As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions may beloaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus (e.g., hardware)to produce a machine, such that the resulting computer or otherprogrammable apparatus provides for implementation of the functionsspecified in the flowcharts' block(s). These computer programinstructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer-readablestorage memory that may direct a computer or other programmableapparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructionsstored in the computer-readable storage memory produce an article ofmanufacture, the execution of which implements the function specified inthe flowcharts' block(s). The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a seriesof operations to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide operations for implementing the functions specified inthe flowcharts' block(s). As such, the operations of FIGS. 8 and 9, whenexecuted, convert a computer or processing circuitry into a particularmachine configured to perform an example embodiment of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the operations of FIGS. 8 and 9 may define analgorithm for configuring a computer or processor, to perform an exampleembodiment. In some cases, a general purpose computer may be providedwith an instance of the processor which performs the algorithm of FIGS.8 and 9, to transform the general purpose computer into a particularmachine configured to perform an example embodiment.

Accordingly, blocks of the flowchart support combinations of means forperforming the specified functions and combinations of operations forperforming the specified functions. It will also be understood that oneor more blocks of the flowcharts', and combinations of blocks in theflowchart, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computersystems which perform the specified functions, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart 800 of a method for operating thematerial handling system 100, in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

At step 802, the sensing panel 132 includes means such as, the RF reader304, for transmitting the interrogation signal. At block 804, thesensing panel 132 includes means such as, the RF reader 304, fordetermining whether a reply to the interrogation signal is received. Ifat block 804, it is determined by the RF reader 304 that the reply tothe interrogation signal is received, the block 806 is performed.However, if the RF reader 304 determines that the reply to theinterrogation signal is not received, the RF reader 304 may determinethat the mode control token 134 is not within the vicinity of thesensing panel 132. Further, the RF reader 304 repeats the processing ofthe block 802.

At block 806, the sensing panel 132 includes means such as, the RFreader 304, for retrieving the information stored in the mode controltoken 134 by initiating the interrogation sequence in accordance withone or more known protocols such as RFID communication protocol,Bluetooth communication protocol, and/or the like In an exampleembodiment, the information may include at least the unique ID of themode control token 134. At block 808, the sensing panel 132 includesmeans such as, the RF reader 304, for transmitting the unique ID to thesensing unit 208 in the control unit 130. In an example embodiment, thesensor unit 208 may be configured to authenticate the mode control token134 by comparing the unique ID received from the mode control token 134with the set of predetermined IDs stored in a memory device 204, as isdescribed supra in conjunction with FIG. 2.

In an alternate embodiment, the RF reader 304 may be itself configuredto authenticate the mode control token 134. In such an embodiment, theRF reader 304 may be configured to compare the unique ID with the set ofpredetermined IDs stored in the memory of the RF reader 304.

At block 810, the sensing panel 132 includes means such as, the RFreader 304, for generating the signal based on the authentication of themode control token 134. For example, if the mode control token 134 issuccessfully authenticated, the RF reader 304 is adapted to generate thesignal. However, if the authentication of the mode control token 134 isunsuccessful, the RF reader 304 may not generate the signal. Further,the RF reader 304 is adapted to transmit the signal to the sensor unit208.

At block 812, the sensing panel 132 includes means such as, the RFreader 304, for determining whether the mode control token 134 remainswithin the vicinity of the RF reader 304. As discussed, the RF reader304 may periodically interrogate the mode control token 134 to determinewhether the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity of the RFreader 304. If at block 812, the RF reader 304 determines that the modecontrol token 134 is not within (e.g., outside) the vicinity of the RFreader 304, the RF reader 304, at block 814, halts the generation of thesignal. However, if at block 812, the RF reader 304 determines that themode control token 134 is within the vicinity of the RF reader 304, theRF reader 304 repeats the processing of the block 812.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart 900 of another method for operating thematerial handling system 100, in accordance with the one or moreembodiments of the present disclosure.

At block 902, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the sensorunit 208, the processor 202, and/or the like, for receiving the signalfrom the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. At block904, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the sensor unit 208,the processor 202, and/or the like, for identifying a sensing panel ofthe one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c that hastransmitted the signal. As discussed above, the one or more sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c are communicatively coupled to the sensorunit 208 on different ports. Based on the determining the port on whichthe signal is received, the sensor unit 208 may be able to identify thesensing panel of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c.

At block 906, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the sensorunit 208, the processor 202, and/or the like, for determining whetherthe signal is received from the sensing panel 132 a. If at block 906,the sensor unit 208 determines that the signal is received from thesensing panel 132 a, the sensor unit 208 is adapted to transmit thesignal reception state associated with each of the one or more sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit 210. At block908, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the mode control unit210, the processor 202, and/or the like, for enabling the robotic armassembly 104 and the conveyor system 106, thereby enabling the materialhandling system 100 in the automatic mode. As discussed above, tooperate the material handling system 100 in the automatic mode, the modecontrol unit 210 may be configured to transmit the instruction to therobotic arm interface unit 212 and the conveyor interface unit 214 toenable the robotic arm assembly 104 and the conveyor system 106.However, if the sensor unit 208 determines that the signal is notreceived from the sensing panel 132 a, the block 910 is processed.

At block 910, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the sensorunit 208, the processor 202, and/or the like, for determining whetherthe signal is received from the sensing panel 132 b. If at block 910,the sensor unit 208 determines that the signal is received from thesensing panel 132 b, the sensor unit 208 is adapted to transmit thesignal reception state associated with each of the one or more sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit 210. At block912, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the mode control unit210, the processor 202, and/or the like, for disabling the robotic armassembly 104 and enabling the conveyor system 106, thereby enabling thematerial handling system 100 in the conveyor mode. However, if thesensor unit 208 determines that the signal is not received from thesensing panel 132 b, the block 914 is processed.

At block 914, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the sensorunit 208, the processor 202, and/or the like, for determining whetherthe signal is received from the sensing panel 132 c. If at block 914,the sensor unit 208 determines that the signal is received from thesensing panel 132 c, the sensor unit 208 is adapted to transmit thesignal reception state associated with each of the one or more sensingpanels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c, to the mode control unit 210. At block916, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the mode control unit210, the processor 202, and/or the like, for disabling the robotic armassembly 104 and the conveyor system 106. Further, the mode control unit210 is adapted to enable the plurality of traction devices 108, therebyenabling the material handling system 100 in the traversal mode.However, if the sensor unit 208 determines that the signal is notreceived from the sensing panel 132 c, the block 918 is processed.

At block 918, the control unit 130 includes means such as, the sensorunit 208, the processor 202, and/or the like, for determining that thesignal is not received from any of the one or more sensing panels 132 a,132 b, and 132 c. Accordingly, at block 920, the control unit 130includes means such as, the sensor unit 208, the processor 202, and/orthe like, for transmitting the signal reception state associated witheach of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c to themode control unit 210. The mode control unit 210 on determining that thesignal is not being received from any of the one or more sensing panels132 a, 132 b, and 132 c, At block 922, the control unit 130 includesmeans such as, the mode control unit 210, the processor 202, and/or thelike, for disabling each of the robotic arm assembly 104, the conveyorsystem 106, and the plurality of traction devices 108.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example material handling system 100 operating inthe automatic mode, in accordance with the one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

If the operator of the material handling system 100 wishes to operatethe material handling system 100 in the automatic mode, the operator maybring the mode control token 134 within the vicinity of the sensingpanel 132 a positioned on the operator control panel 136.

When the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity of the sensingpanel 132 a, the sensing panel 132 a generates the signal (depicted by1002), while the sensing panels 132 b and 132 c do not generate anysignal (depicted by 1004 and 1006, respectively). The signal 1002generated by the sensing panel 132 a is transmitted to the sensor unit208. On receiving the signal, the sensor unit 208 is adapted to transmitthe signal reception state for each of the one or more sensing panels132 a, 132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit 210. As depicted inFIG. 10, the sensor unit 208 transmits information as a vector [“signalreceived”, “no signal”, “no signal”] (depicted by 1008) to the modecontrol unit 210.

In an example embodiment, the first parameter of the vector 1008 depictsthe signal reception state for the sensing panel 132 a. Further, thesecond parameter and the third parameter of the vector 1008 depicts thesignal reception state for the sensing panels 132 b and 132 c,respectively.

After receiving the information, the mode control unit 210 utilizes thelook-up table illustrated in table 1 to determine the mode of operationof the material handling system 100. In an example embodiment, the modecontrol unit 210 is adapted to compare the received vector with theentries in the look-up table illustrated in table 1. Based on thecomparison, the mode control unit 210 determines that the modecorresponds to the automatic mode.

Thereafter, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to determine which ofthe robotic arm assembly 104, the conveyor system 106, and the pluralityof traction devices 108 are to be enabled or disabled. In an exampleembodiment, the mode control unit 210 utilizes the look-up tableillustrated in table 2 to determine that in the automatic mode, theconveyor system 106 and the robotic arm are enabled, while the pluralityof traction devices 108 are disabled.

Accordingly, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to transmit the one ormore instructions to the robotic arm interface unit 212, the conveyorsystem interface unit 214, and the traction member interface unit 214.From FIG. 10, it can be observed that the mode control unit 210transmits enable instruction to the robotic arm interface unit 212, andthe conveyor system interface unit 214 (depicted by 1010 and 1012,respectively). Further, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to transmitthe disable instruction to the traction interface unit 216 (depicted by1014).

In the automatic mode, the robotic arm assembly 104 is adapted toretrieve the carton from the carton pile 120 and place the retrievedcarton on the conveyor system 106 (depicted by 1016). More particularly,the robotic arm 104 places the retrieved carton on the lift 126. Thecarton is thereafter conveyed from the lift 126 to the end 122 of thematerial handling system 100 by the conveyor system. Further, in theautomatic mode, the lift 126 traverses in accordance to the traversal ofthe robotic arm assembly 104. For example, if the robotic arm assembly104 moves in an upward direction to retrieve the carton, the lift 126also moves in the upward direction in accordance with the movement ofthe robotic arm assembly 104.

In certain scenarios, if the operator observed that the robotic armassembly 104 is malfunctioning, operator may simply pull the modecontrol token 134 away from the sensing panel 132 a. Such a scenario hasbeen discussed in conjunction with FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example material handling system 100 operating ina stop mode, in accordance with the one or more embodiments.

It can be observed that the mode control token 134 is not within thevicinity of any of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132c. Therefore, each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and132 c will not transmit the signal to the sensor unit 208 (depicted by1102, 1104, and 1106, respectively). Further, the sensor unit 208 isadapted to determine such change in the signal reception state for eachof the one or more sensing panel 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c.

As the signal reception state associated with each of the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c is “no signal”, therefore,sensing panel 208 transmits a vector [“no signal”, “no signal”, “nosignal”] to the mode control unit 210 (depicted by 1108). The modecontrol unit 210 is adapted to compare the received vector with entriesof the look-up table illustrated in table 1 to determine the mode ofoperation of the material handling system 100. From the table 1 it canbe observed that for vector [“no signal”, “no signal”, “no signal”] thestop mode is selected.

Thereafter, the mode control unit 210 utilizes the look-up tableillustrated in table 2 to determine that, in the stop mode, the conveyorsystem 106, the plurality of traction devices 108, and the robotic armare disabled. Accordingly, the mode control unit 210 is adapted totransmit the one or more instructions to the robotic arm interface unit212, the conveyor system interface unit 214, and the traction memberinterface unit 214. From FIG. 11, it can be observed that the modecontrol unit 210 transmits disable instruction to the robotic arminterface unit 212, traction interface unit 216, and the conveyor systeminterface unit 214 (depicted by 1110, 1112, and 1114, respectively).

When the robotic arm interface unit 212 disables the robotic armassembly 104, the robotic arm assembly 104 may not immediately halts. Inan example embodiment, the robotic arm interface unit 212 may instructthe robotic arm assembly 104 to traverse to a default position or homeposition. Thereafter, the robotic arm assembly 104 is brought to halt.The robotic arm assembly 104 in the default position is depicted by1116.

On similar lines, conveyor system 106 is also not brought to animmediate stand still. In an example embodiment, the lift 126 of theconveyor system 106 is retracted to a position where a longitudinal axisof the lift 126 aligns with a longitudinal axis of the plurality offixed conveyors 124. Therefore, the lift 126 is leveled with theplurality of fixed conveyors 124 prior to bringing the conveyor system106 to stand still or halt (depicted by 1118).

In an alternate embodiment, the robotic arm interface unit 212 mayimmediately halt the operation of the robotic arm assembly 104 onreceiving the disable instruction from the mode control unit 210.Similarly, the conveyor interface unit 214 may immediately halt theoperation of the conveyor system 106 on receiving the disableinstruction from the mode control unit 210

In certain scenarios, the operator of the material handling system 100may want to operate the machine in the conveyor mode, where the cartonsare manually retrieved by the operator from the carton pile 120 andconveyor system 106 is utilized to transport the retrieved carton to theend of the material handling system 100. Configuring the materialhandling system 100 in the conveyor mode has been described inconjunction with FIG. 12.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example material handling system 100 operating inthe conveyor mode, in accordance with the one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

To operate the material handling system 100 in the conveyor mode, theoperator may place the mode control token 134 within the vicinity of thesensing panel 132 b positioned in the manipulator 118 of the robotic armassembly 104.

When the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity of the sensingpanel 132 b, the sensing panel 132 b generates the signal (depicted by1202), while the sensing panels 132 a and 132 c do not generate anysignal (depicted by 1204 and 1206, respectively). The signal generatedby the sensing panel 132 b is transmitted to the sensor unit 208. Onreceiving the signal, the sensor unit 208 is adapted to transmit thesignal reception state for each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a,132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit 210. As depicted in FIG. 12,the sensor unit 208 transmits signal reception state as a vector [“nosignal”, “signal received”, “no signal”] (depicted by 1208) to the modecontrol unit 210.

In an example embodiment, the first parameter of the vector 1008 depictsthe signal reception state of the sensing panel 132 a. Further, thesecond parameter and the third parameter of the vector 1008 depicts thesignal reception state for the sensing panel 132 b and 132 c,respectively.

After the reception of the signal reception state, the mode control unit210 utilizes the look-up table illustrated in table 1 to determine themode of operation of the material handling system 100. In an exampleembodiment, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to compare the receivedvector with the entries in the look-up table illustrated in table 2.Based on the comparison, the mode control unit 210 determines that themode of operation corresponds to the conveyor mode.

Thereafter, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to determine which ofthe robotic arm assembly 104, the conveyor system 106, and the pluralityof traction devices 108 are to be enabled or disabled. In an exampleembodiment, the mode control unit 210 utilizes the look-up tableillustrated in table 2 to determine that in the conveyor mode, theconveyor system 106 is enabled, while the robotic arm assembly 104 andthe plurality of traction devices 108 are disabled.

Accordingly, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to transmit the one ormore instructions to the robotic arm interface unit 212, the conveyorsystem interface unit 214, and the traction member interface unit 214.From FIG. 12, it can be observed that the mode control unit 210transmits enable instruction to the conveyor system interface unit 214(depicted by 1210). Further, the mode control unit 210 transmits thedisable instruction to the robotic arm assembly 104 and the tractioninterface unit 216 (depicted by 1212, and 1214, respectively).

In the conveyor mode, the lift 126 of the conveyor system 106 isretracted to a position where a longitudinal axis of the lift 126 alignswith a longitudinal axis of the plurality of fixed conveyors 124.Therefore, the lift 126 is levelled with the plurality of fixedconveyors 124 (depicted by 1218). The operator may retrieve the cartonfrom the carton pile 120 and place it on the conveyor system 106.Thereafter, the conveyor system 106 may convey the carton to the end 122of the material handling system 100 (depicted by 1220).

FIG. 13 illustrates another example material handling system 100operating in a traversal mode, in accordance with the one or moreembodiments of the present disclosure.

To operate the material handling system 100 in the traversal mode, theoperator may place the mode control token 134 within the vicinity of thesensing panel 132 c positioned below the conveyor system 106.

When the mode control token 134 is within the vicinity of the sensingpanel 132 c, the sensing panel 132 c generates the signal (depicted by1302), while the sensing panels 132 a and 132 b do not generate anysignal (depicted by 1304 and 1306, respectively). The signal generatedby the sensing panel 132 c is transmitted to the sensor unit 208. Onreceiving the signal, the sensor unit 208 is adapted to transmit thesignal reception state for each of the one or more sensing panels 132 a,132 b, and 132 c to the mode control unit 210. As depicted in the FIG.13, the sensor unit 208 transmits signal reception state as a vector[“no signal”, “no signal”, “signal received”] (depicted by 1308) to themode control unit 210.

After the reception of the signal reception state, the mode control unit210 utilizes the look-up table illustrated in table 1 to determine themode of operation of the material handling system 100. In an exampleembodiment, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to compare the receivedvector with the entries in the look-up table illustrated in table 2.Based on the comparison, the mode control unit 210 determines that themode corresponds to the traversal mode.

Thereafter, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to determine which ofthe robotic arm assembly 104, the conveyor system 106, and the pluralityof traction devices 108 are to be enabled or disabled. In an exampleembodiment, the mode control unit 210 utilizes the look-up tableillustrated in table 2 to determine that in traversal mode, theplurality of traction devices 108 is enabled, while the robotic armassembly 104 and the conveyor system 106 are disabled.

Accordingly, the mode control unit 210 is adapted to transmit the one ormore instructions to the robotic arm interface unit 212, the conveyorsystem interface unit 214, and the traction member interface unit 214.From flow diagram 1200, it can be observed that the mode control unit210 transmits enable instruction to the traction member interface unit214 (depicted by 1310). Further, the mode control unit 210 is adapted totransmit the disable instruction to the robotic arm assembly 104 and theconveyor system 106 (depicted by 1312, and 1314, respectively).

In the traversal mode, the plurality of traction devices 108 are enabledand powered to allow traversal of the material handling system 100.

The disclosed embodiments encompass numerous advantages. The use of themode control token 134 allows the operator to configure the materialhandling system 100 in the one or more modes seamlessly. In order toconfigure the material handling system 100, the operator has to bringthe mode control token within the vicinity of the one of the one or moresensing panels 132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. Further, the disclosedembodiments, allow the operator to immediately shut down or halt theoperation of the material handling system 100 by removing the modecontrol token 134 out of the vicinity of the one or more sensing panels132 a, 132 b, and 132 c. The disclosed embodiments also allow theauthentication of the mode control token 134 prior to configuring thematerial handling system 100 in the one or more modes. Suchauthentication process allows only specific mode control tokens to beused with the material handling system 100, therefore, prevents the useof non-authentic mode control tokens. Such authentication processreduces the misuse of the material handling system 100.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in anyorder. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intendedto limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guidethe reader through the description of the methods. Further, anyreference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting theelement to the singular.

The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logicalblocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspectsdisclosed herein may include a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a special-purpose processor such as anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration. Alternatively, or in addition, some steps or methods maybe performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.

In one or more example embodiments, the functions described herein maybe implemented by special-purpose hardware or a combination of hardwareprogrammed by firmware or other software. In implementations relying onfirmware or other software, the functions may be performed as a resultof execution of one or more instructions stored on one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media and/or one or more non-transitoryprocessor-readable media. These instructions may be embodied by one ormore processor-executable software modules that reside on the one ormore non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storagemedia. Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storagemedia may in this regard comprise any storage media that may be accessedby a computer or a processor. By way of example but not limitation, suchnon-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable media may includeRAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, disk storage, magnetic storage devices,or the like. Disk storage, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD),laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, andBlu-ray Disc™, or other storage devices that store data magnetically oroptically with lasers. Combinations of the above types of media are alsoincluded within the scope of the terms non-transitory computer-readableand processor-readable media. Additionally, any combination ofinstructions stored on the one or more non-transitory processor-readableor computer-readable media may be referred to herein as a computerprogram product.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseinventions pertain having the benefit of teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Although the figuresonly show certain components of the apparatus and systems describedherein, it is understood that various other components may be used inconjunction with the supply management system. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Moreover, the steps in the method described above may not necessarilyoccur in the order depicted in the accompanying diagrams, and in somecases one or more of the steps depicted may occur substantiallysimultaneously, or additional steps may be involved. Although specificterms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptivesense only and not for purposes of limitation.

1. A material handling system comprising: one or more sub-systems forfacilitating a movement of materials; one or more sensing panelscommunicably coupled to the one or more of the sub-systems; a sensorunit communicably coupled to the one or more sensing panels, wherein thesensor unit is adapted to receive a signal from the one or more sensingpanels indicative of a signal reception state of each of the sensingpanels, wherein the signal reception state indicates whether or not amode control token is within a vicinity of the one or more sensingpanels; and a control unit configured to receive the signal receptionstate from the sensor unit, wherein the control unit is adapted to:determine a mode of operation from among a plurality of modes foroperating the one or more sub-systems; and enable or disable the one ormore sub-systems in response to determining the mode of operation. 2.The material handling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signalreception state comprises: a no signal state, wherein the no signalstate indicates that a signal is not received by the sensor unit fromthe one or more sensing panels, and a signal received state, wherein thesignal received state indicates that a signal is received by the sensorunit from the one or more sensing panels.
 3. The material handlingsystem as claimed in claim 1, wherein the modes of operation compriseone of an automatic mode, a conveyor mode, a traversal mode, or a stopmode.
 4. The material handling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein theone or more sub-systems comprise one or more of a robotic arm assembly,a conveyor system, and a plurality of traction devices.
 5. The materialhandling system as claimed in claim 3, wherein in the automatic mode,the robotic arm assembly and the conveyor system are enabled, wherein inthe conveyor mode, the conveyor system is enabled, wherein in thetraversal mode, the plurality of traction devices are enabled, andwherein in the stop mode, the robotic arm assembly, the conveyor system,and the plurality of traction devices are disabled.
 6. The materialhandling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensingpanels are further configured to: determine whether the mode controltoken is within a vicinity of a respective sensing panel of the one ormore sensing panels; generate the signal when the mode control token isdetermined to be within the vicinity of the respective sensing panel;and halt generation of the signal when the mode control token isdetermined to be outside of the vicinity of the respective sensingpanel.
 7. The material handling system as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a switching element configured to enable or disable the oneor more sub-systems, wherein the switching element is one of a relay, adriver circuit, or a dual channel circuit breaker.
 8. The materialhandling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensingpanels are configured to initiate an interrogation sequence with themode control token to retrieve the information stored in the modecontrol token, wherein the information stored is a unique ID thatidentifies one of the mode control tokens authorized to access the oneor more sub-systems or an operator authorized to operate the one or moresub-systems.
 9. A material handling system comprising: one or moresub-systems for facilitating a movement of materials; a plurality ofmode control tokens, wherein each mode control token comprisesinformation pertaining to a particular mode of operation from among aplurality of modes; one or more sensing panels communicably coupled tothe one or more of the sub-systems configured to: determine whether amode control token from among the plurality of mode control tokens iswithin a vicinity of a respective sensing panel of the one or moresensing panels; and generate a signal indicative of the particular modeof operation associated with the mode control token when the modecontrol token is determined to be within the vicinity of the respectivesensing panel; and a control unit configured to operate the one or moresub-systems based on the particular mode of operation associated withthe mode control token.
 10. The material handling system as claimed inclaim 9, wherein the control unit comprises a mode control unit and aprocessor for enabling or disabling the one or more sub-systems based onthe particular mode of operation.
 11. The material handling system asclaimed in claim 9, wherein the mode control token comprises a frontpanel, a back panel, and an insert, and wherein the front panelcomprises a cavity to receive a wireless tag and a recess to receive amagnet.
 12. The material handling system as claimed in claim 9, whereinone or more sensing panels are further configured to halt generation ofthe signal when the mode control token is determined to be outside thevicinity of the respective sensing panel.
 13. The material handlingsystem as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a sensor unitcommunicably coupled to the one or more sensing panels and adapted toreceive the signal and transmit a signal reception state to the controlunit based on the received signal.
 14. A method for operating a materialhandling system, the method comprising: receiving, by a sensor unit, asignal from one or more sensing panels indicative of a signal receptionstate of each of a plurality of sensing panels, wherein the signalreception state indicates whether or not a mode control token is withina vicinity of the one or more sensing panels; receiving, by a controlunit, the signal reception state from the sensor unit; determining, bythe control unit, a mode of operation from among a plurality of modesfor operating one or more sub-systems based on the signal receptionstate; and enabling or disabling, by the control unit, the one or moresub-systems in response to determining the mode of operation.
 15. Themethod as claimed in claim 14, further comprising initiating aninterrogation sequence with the mode control token to retrieve theinformation stored in the mode control token, wherein the informationstored is a unique ID that identifies one of the mode control tokensauthorized to access the one or more sub-systems or an operatorauthorized to operate the one or more sub-systems.
 16. The method asclaimed in claim 14, further comprising: determining whether the modecontrol token is within a vicinity of a respective sensing panel of theone or more sensing panels; generating the signal in an instance inwhich the mode control token is determined to be within the vicinity ofthe respective sensing panel; and halting the generation of the signalin an instance in which the mode control token is determined to beoutside of the vicinity of the respective sensing panel.